Lancaster Crown Court heard how Aaron Fleet, 28, still suffered nightmares and flashbacks following the terrifying 20-minute ordeal in which he was repeatedly attacked and threatened with a knife.

Mr Fleet was now scared to board a bus alone and would no longer sit on the upper deck, the court heard.

Scott Wareing, 24, who has twice become a father in the last three-and-a-half months, was jailed for a year for his part in the unprovoked attack.

Mr Jacob Dyer, prosecuting, told how Mr Fleet had boarded the bus at Lancaster Bus Station at 10pm on November 22 last year and was sitting upstairs with his friend Luke Brennan.

The three defendants – Wareing, his sister Tarna Lennon and his ex-partner, Nicole Whittle, the mother of one of his children – got on.
They and a female teenager became involved in a confrontation with another woman.

Lennon then confronted Mr Fleet, swearing at him.

She hit him in the eye with her bag and blocked the gangway when he tried to get off. Mr Brennan left to get help as Mr Fleet was grabbed from behind and all three women rained blows on him.

Wareing then repeatedly punched Mr Fleet, before telling the others to 'get the knife'.

Wareing then wielded the knife at him and said: 'sit down or I'll slice you'. Police officers waiting for the bus in Westminster Road, Morecambe, boarded, recovered the knife and arrested the gang.

All three defendants admitted a charge of affray.

Wareing, of Pedder Road, Overton, initially denied any involvement but was picked out in a computer ID parade.

Lennon, also of Pedder Road; and Whittle, of Dee Road, Lancaster, both 18, also admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Wareing finally pleaded guilty to that charge on the day of his trial in August.

Mr Paul Humphries, defending Wareing, said he had not intended to use the knife and had only become involved after noticing his sister's blouse had been ripped.

He said Wareing was determined to take his responsibilities as a father seriously.

Mr Fraser Livesey, defending Whittle, said it was her first time before a court and that her lifestyle had changed since the birth of her month-old son.

Miss Barbara Webster said Lennon accepted what happened had been "despicable".

Sentencing, Mr Jones said the group's behaviour had been "demonic and out of control".

Lennon and Whittle were each given a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years. They also face two years of supervision and 100 hours' unpaid work.

The youth, who cannot be named, was sentenced to a referral order at an earlier hearing.